Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Didn’t Get To In 2017

TOP 5

Ok, guys. We all have our insanely large TBRs and for the most part, they are books that we didn’t end up getting to last year. Or maybe you’re guilty of having some you didn’t even get to in 2016. And really, that’s okay. Because we will all most likely destroy our TBRs someday. But in the moment, it is really nice to have a wide selection of books to choose from on our shelves. Today’s Top 5 Wednesday topic is “Books You Didn’t Get To In 2017. Whether I physically own them or not, these five books are ones that I was hoping to read in 2017, but just didn’t have enough time to get to them. Let’s get started!

  1. Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass, #6)Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas:
    If any of you have been following my blog for a while, you would know that I am a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas’s works. Although a lot of people find her works to be problematic, I love how she has brought sexy male fae and kick-ass females into YA! But, Tower of Dawn has been the first release of hers that I haven’t been overly excited about. I was never a fan of Chaol, and didn’t care about the idea of a book being about him. But, after hearing people’s reviews and opinions about this book, it has slowly motivated me to read it. Although I still don’t have a copy of it, I plan to DEFINITELY buy one before the release of the final Throne of Glass book!


  2. Nick & Norah's Infinite PlaylistNick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Davis Levithan and Rachel Cohn:
    I actually really REALLY wanted to get to this book in 2017. It’s super short and sounds like a cute contemporary. It involves music (OBVIOUSLY) and takes place in my dream city, New York City. But I just never felt like reading it last year. There were so many MORE appealing books on my shelf, that this one just ended up getting nice and dusty. But, seeing that this book is under 200 pages, I am definitely going to consider picking it up whenever I want a short, super easy read. And even, I’ll have a new movie to watch after finishing this book and possibly some new bands to listen to!!

  3. Before I FallBefore I Fall by Lauren Oliver:
    I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of this book. Whether it was because of the recent release of the movie, or because you previously read it, I am FOR SURE that you have heard of it before. I have read one of Lauren Oliver’s works in the past, Delirium, and I really enjoyed it. Although I haven’t continued her Delirium series (I definitely need a re-read to do that), I am excited to start exploring some of her other works. Before I Fall may not be the happiest contemporary novel, but the plot has definitely captured my attention! Can’t wait to dive into this one!


  4. Sweet Reckoning (Sweet, #3)Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins:
    A lot of you may already know this, but I love Wendy Higgins’s Sweet trilogy. But, I can only say that about the books I have read in the trilogy, since I am actually VERY guilty of not finishing it. It’s not that I don’t want to, but Chapters never actually has this in stock at my local store. And it really isn’t often that I buy books online so I just haven’t got to buying it yet. But, I am for sure going to be prioritizing this book in 2018! I’m super excited to jump back into this AMAZING series and possibly give the first two books a re-read.


  5. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)Cress by Marissa Meyer:
    yes, I am STILL guilty of NOT finishing the Lunar Chronicles. I’m pretty sure that 2018 is the second year since I finished Cinder and I am still on halfway through this series. But, I absolutely loved the first two books and just know that I am also going to love the rest of the series. I’ve heard nothing but raving reviews about the rest of the series and cannot wait to read it. And even, I really don’t have any excuses for not getting to Cress since it is ALWAYS at my local bookstore, I have spotted it at used book sales and it has a super reasonable price, even for Canadians.

And that is it for today! Are there any books that you didn’t get to in 2017? Let me know which ones you plan to prioritize this year!  Also, don’t forget to like this post and follow my blog to stay up to date with all of my future posts!

Happy Reading,
Alaina

Top 5 Wednesday: 2018 Wishlist

TOP 5

Hey everyone! For today’s Top 5 Wednesday we will be discussing some things I would like to see in 2018 releases. I know, I know, the title was a little misleading. If anything, you probably thought that I would be talking about some of the books I want to receive/read in 2018. However, I am actually going to be talking about my top 5 themes, genres, tropes, etc. that I hop e to see in 2018 releases. Let’s get into it!

  1. Even more diversity…
    2017 seemed to be the year where authors truly recognized diversity in YA literature. Prior to this year, I would say that maybe 1 out of every 3 books featured a character of colour and/or an LGBTQ+ character. But, I believe that authors were able to bump that number up to 2 out of every 3 books. Almost every contemporary I read that was released in 2017 had at least one diverse main character in it. Although fantasy novels still lacked a lot of diversity, authors like Cassandra Clare and Leigh Bardugo helped the numbers improve slightly.
  2. More paranormal books…
    If you didn’t already know, paranormal is my absolute favorite genre! It can be mixed in with so many other genres including romance, science-fiction and historical fiction, so how could you not love it? But I haven’t been seeing a lot of it recently. I loved the days when paranormal books were constantly being released. Like the years when Fallen and Hush, Hush were super popular.But, I am hoping that we can convince some YA authors to bring back paranormal books. (I hope you are reading this, Jennifer L. Armentrout)
  3. More co-authored novels…
    Has anyone else noticed an abundance of co-authored, or even multi-authored books? In past years, we have received amazing co-authored novels like These Broken Stars, Illuminae and Beautiful Creatures over the years and it has become noticeable that many of these writing duos work out in the end. I haven’t actually read one bad co-authored book. So far, I have heard about a few co-authored novels being released in 2018, but I am really hoping to hear about a few more!
  4. Less possible problematic books…
    Okay, that subtitle was a bit of a tongue twister. But I think you could kind of guess where I am going with this. When readers find a book “problematic,” the book world blows up with problematic thoughts. Usually they don’t last more than a few days, but I’m hoping for less problematic YA books in 2018. For the most part, readers find books problematic when an author attempts to write about diversity. My biggest recommendation for authors is to simply not write about diversity if you don’t think you will do it in a way that will satisfy readers, especially readers that are diverse, themselves.
  5. And a whole new year of YA novels…
    I absolutely cannot see where the YA book world goes in 2018. It has so much potential and from what I’ve heard, we are expecting a great year!

That’s about it for today’s post! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and have similar thoughts to mine. Do you do Top 5 Wednesday on your blog? Be sure to share the link to your post below and I will definitely check it out. Other than that, be sure to like, comment and follow my blog to stay up to date with all of my future posts!

Happy Reading,
Alaina